Tim Down's Story
Tim is a former student who did a Live aboard Basic cruising course. I have introduced a number of clients to a lifelong passion of sailing, his story is more extreme than most!
"Hello Phil, I hope this letter finds you enjoying some good fall sailing.
After I saw you you (Waupoos Summer '09) I enjoyed a winter in Kingston, working a little, and volunteering at the Marine Museum. In March I moved aboard my vessel (on the hard) and worked hard to complete a number of projects, standing rigging, welding etc, until mid June.
In Mid June we (my now wife Alli and I) departed from Bowmanville for New York City. The canal system was interesting, a little too much motoring for my taste, but beautiful. From New York we sailed to Shelburne Nova Scotia in a 5 day offshore jaunt. When the proper weather window arrived we departed for the Azores. We spend Some of July, all of August and some of September now. This week we've arrived in Madeira where we'll stay for a week... maybe two. From here the Canary Islands, Cape Verdes, and a return across the Atlantic to the Caribean in January.
We'll cruise the Islands with an extended stay in Cuba, and then back to fresh water in the spring.
In regards to our Azores crossing, ( I mention this because these are the conditions I had wondered about) Our crossing took 15 days, 4 days of which were in strong conditions (25-35 once 40 knots), 4 of which were in fast/reasonably strong conditions (20-25 knots) 4 of which were in ideal conditions (in our minds) (10-20 knots) and three days of near calm (5 knots or less) with a boat speed of 1 - 2.5 knots. We took in the first reef a total of 9 times, second reef 6 times, trysail 3 times, the 130% genoa was switched to 100% working jib 5 times, storm jib once (for about two hours) We used 18 litres of Gasoline This leg was 1723 nm long with an average of 115 nm per day, or 4.8 knots, much better than the 4 we expected
Thanks for all you taught me Phil, with out those skills and confidence, I wouldn't have tackled this challenge. I'll make sure to track you down next time we're in Kingston / Collins Bay,
Tim Downs
SV Eleanor Tarr
http://www.eleanortarr.bravehost.com"